IDF officially denies Gaza mother, baby killed by Israeli strike

Israel’s army denied claims from Hamas-run Gazan authorities that an Israeli strike killed a pregnant Palestinian mother and her baby, saying a misfired Hamas rocket was to blame for the deaths.

“The terror organization’s propaganda at its finest,” IDF spokesman Ronen Manelis says on Twitter.

“The mother and girl they’re claiming in Gaza that were killed in an (Israeli) attack were killed by Hamas use of weapons,” he adds.

Manelis is repeating a claim made earlier by the military’s Arabic-language spokesman that the deaths were caused by a failed rocket launch by terrorists within a civilian populated area.

Another military spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, tells journalists that based on intelligence, “we are now confident” that the deaths were not due to an Israeli strike.

“Their unfortunate deaths were not a result of (Israeli) weaponry but a Hamas rocket that was fired and exploded not where it was supposed to,” he said.

— with AFP

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